We Need the Masked Man Once More

The announcer's words always started talked about the "thrilling days of yesteryear."  Our parents and grandparents anxiously sat around the radio to listen to his adventures while we curled up in from of the television set to watch him.  Today's generation would consider him so outdated.  After all, he's so moralistic and goody two-shoes.

That's why we need him once more.

We need The Lone Ranger.  He and Tonto rode throughout the West, not only enforcing the law, but dispersing justice.  He had his own code and never once abandoned it.

Originally, The Lone Ranger started out in radio in 1933.  The writers had rules concerning the main character.  They were:

1. The Lone Ranger never smokes, never uses profanity, and never uses intoxicating beverages.
2. The Lone Ranger is a man who can fight great odds, yet takes time to treat a bird with a broken wing.
3. The Lone Ranger believes that our sacred American heritage provides that every individual has the right to worship God as he desires.
4. Play down gambling and drinking scenes as far as possible, and keep the Lone Ranger out of saloons. When this cannot be avoided, try to make the saloon a cafe and deal with waiters and food instead of bartenders and liquor.
5. The Lone Ranger at all times uses precise speech, without slang or dialect. His grammar must be pure. He must make proper use of "who" and "whom", "shall". and "will", "I" and "me", etc.
6. The Lone Ranger never shoots to kill. When he has to use guns, The Lone Ranger never shoots to kill, but rather only to disarm his opponent as painlessly as possible.

When Clayton Moore was cast as The Lone Ranger, he never again took off the mask in front of the camera, saying the role improved his life.  He had been something of a playboy and now wanted to set an example for the thousands of children who watched his show.  Moore wrote down a code for those children to follow, and did so himself.  He in effect truly became his role.  His autobiography was entitled I Was That Masked Man!

We need to follow Moore's example and follow in the footsteps of that masked man.  Listen to truth, justice and the American way.  We may not have a masked man riding to our rescue with his faithful Indian companion Tonto, but The Lone Ranger also taught us to stand up for ourselves.

Hi Yo Silver, Away!